Yellow Corporation, Overland Park, Kan., made several announcements on Friday, including releasing its earnings reports for the fourth quarter and year end 2001.

Yellow announced its largest subsidiary, Yellow Freight System, is being renamed Yellow Transportation. Company officials say the move is to more appropriately describe the full range of asset-based services it offers.
They also announced a new business, Meridian IQ, is being launched as a non-asset-based global transportation services and technology management provider.
Yellow has also formed SCS Transportation, which will serve as a holding company for its regional carriers Saia and Jevic.
Finally, Yellow reported the overall earnings as well as for its different divisions.
Yellow Corp. reported fourth-quarter 2001 net income, before unusual items, of $4.4 million, exceeding analysts' expectations. Last year, net income was $17.7 million. Net income from continuing operations for the quarter was $1.4 million, compared to $15.8 million a year ago.
Consolidated operating revenue for the quarter was $785 million, down 11.1% from $883 million in 2000. Consolidated operating income, before unusual items, was $12.9 million, down from $41.1 million in the prior year. Operating income including unusual items was $8 million versus $37.9 million in the prior year.
"We knew going into the fourth quarter that the economy would continue to have an adverse effect on business levels," said Bill Zollars, Yellow Corp. chairman, president and CEO. "In response, we accelerated our cost and yield management efforts, resulting in solid profitability. This performance during a very difficult period was delivered through great teamwork and attention to detail."
Consolidated operating revenue for the full year was $3.3 billion, down 8.7% from $3.6 billion a year earlier. Operating income for the year, excluding unusual items, was $69.4 million, down from $140.4 million a year earlier. Net income, excluding unusual items, was $22.7 million, compared with $61.8 million in the prior year. Including unusual items, operating income was $57.4 million versus $152.5 million in the prior year and net income from continuing operations was $15.3 million, or $.62 per share, in 2001 versus $69.3 million, or $2.79 per share in 2000.
"Even though the economy softened more each successive quarter as we moved through 2001, many of our services experienced year-over-year growth," said Zollars. "Exact Express, our expedited and time-definite service, grew revenue 6 percent in a year which saw most expeditors lose volume. Yellow Global, our international forwarding business, grew 23 percent; and Saia grew revenue in a depressed market."
Yellow Transportation reported fourth-quarter revenue of $592 million, down 13.6% from $686 million in the 2000 fourth quarter. Operating income for the quarter, before unusual items, was $12.4 million, down from $37.6 million in the 2000 fourth quarter. Operating income after unusual items was $10.6 million versus $37.4 million for the prior year.
During the fourth quarter, the company reorganized Transportation.com, exiting some business lines and transferring the remaining to Meridian IQ. For the fourth quarter, Transportation.com recorded revenue of $8.8 million, and an operating loss before unusual items of $2.8 million. After unusual items the operating loss was $4.9 million.
At Saia, fourth-quarter 2001 revenue was $118 million and operating income was $4.8 million. In the fourth quarter 2000, revenue was $120 million, and operating income was $1 million. Jevic reported fourth-quarter revenue of $67 million and operating income of $1.1 million, compared with 2000 fourth-quarter revenue of $77 million and operating income of $4.5 million.
During the quarter, the company incurred unusual charges of $4.8 million, primarily associated with the reorganization of Yellow Transportation ($2.8 million) and Transportation.com ($2.1 million). The charges included employee separation costs, lease termination and rent costs, and loss on disposition of assets. During last year's fourth quarter, the company incurred $3.2 million of unusual items, primarily for the integration of the regional western subsidiaries into Saia.
Consistent with the views of most economists, the company expects it will be the second half of 2002 before meaningful economic improvement materializes. Business volumes to date in January have not shown much, if any, improvement, so volumes are down about the same percentage as experienced in the fourth quarter. The pricing environment is expected to continue to be reasonable over the course of the quarter. The first quarter is seasonally the weakest quarter in this business and the company expects historical patterns to hold true this year. In such an environment, the company expects to be modestly profitable.